Marches, rallies launch a year in which women hold the key to cultural shift

Luisa Blue used her powerful voice and message to excite those at the Las Vegas women's rallly.

ON OUR way to the Women's Rally in Las Vegas we asked our Lyft driver if he was registered.

"I was a precinct captain," answered Grover, our driver. "In 2016 I was registering up to 60 people a day."

Grover was a black man, about 50 years old, but he was up with current events. "We're turning this state (Nevada) blue." He proceeded to lecture us about all that was wrong with this country, from the White House occupant on down to the white supremacists. 

Donald Trump has inspired ordinary people like Grover to get off their seat, stop complaining and start organizing and doing something to turn this country around.

That was the theme heard around the country last weekend as people marked the one-year anniversary of the Women's March and also, the end of the first year of the Donald Trump administration.

SEIU national executive vice president Luisa Blue, a Filipina Americans, got the Las Vegas crowd riled up citing what the newly revitalized women's movement has in common with labor unions: If you believe in affordable housing, then you have something in common with us, she said. If you believe in a living wage, then you have something in common with us. And she went on, from education, health care, a workplace free from sexual harassment, and so on.

San Francisco Jane Kim, who presides in a largely Asian/American district in her city, spoke in Las Vegas, saying that the majority of mayoral candidates are women, and if a woman is elected mayor of San Francisco, it would become the largest U.S. city with a woman mayor.

Speaker after speaker encouraged the audience to advance to the next step in the women's movement, from marching to running for office, from signing petitions to sighing up voters, to move from the streets to the voting booth.

The Las Vegas rally closed out a weekend of marches and rallies which drew millions of people across the country, from New York to Los Angeles. Over 200,000 marched in New York City, raising their middle finger when they passed the Trump Tower. In Los Angeles where 500,000 marched, chanting, "This is what democracy looks like."

National organizers decided to hold the national event In Las Vegas because Nevada is seen as a state turning from Republican to Democrat with a Republican governors and a U.S. Senate seat seen as vulnerable this year. It is also a state that elected its country's first Latina U.S. Senator, Catherine Cortez, who won her seat in 3026 in the same election that Hillary attracted more votes than Trump.

With the momentum built up by the womens' resistance and the work of people like our Lyft driver, Las Vegas indicates that the odds are in favor that Nevada will turn blue this year.

This story is developing. Check back later for updates.

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Actress Constance Wu,  center, with Natalie Portman, right and Eva Longorio at the Los Angeles march.

In Los Angeles, actress Constance Wu (Fresh Off the Boat) recounted an incident when she was called "bitch."

"I want to tell you about the first time I refused a man's sexual advances," said Wu at the women's march in L.A. "He called me a bitch. He said he didn't even really want me. He said, 'don't flatter yourself, you're not that hot.' He said, 'who do you think you are?'

"You see, my rejection of him made him so uncomfortable that he had to retaliate with insults," she continued. "He had to protect his ego by demeaning me."
Wu's comeback is classic: 

"I would just like to say to the abusers who have called me a bitch, who have said, 'who do you think you are?': I am Constance Wu," she said to cheers. "And as for the 'bitch' part, if you didn't try to do bitch-ass things to us, then we wouldn't have to be bitches back to you. So stop and listen."

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., like other U.S. senators remained in Washington to work on getting a budget that is acceptable enough to end the government shutdown. However, she did issue a statement of support for her supporters in her home state:

"Whether or not you were able to participate in the march last year or this year, this is a moment in time that is demanding all of us to dig deep and take ownership of the future. Be brave and stand with us in fighting for the people. 

"We are strong when we raise our voices together and that is precisely what we did one year ago — and what we will continue to do in the difficult weeks, months, and years ahead. 

"When people of all ages, colors, religions, and backgrounds come together, unified in our collective struggle for justice, there is nothing we cannot accomplish. Stay involved!"_______________________________________________________________________

Women's march anthem penned by AAPI songwriter

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Songwriter Connie Lim explains her motivation for writing 'Quiet.'

IF YOU TOOK PART if the Women's March last year, or you watched news clips of the historic event, you also know that the million-plus demonstrators were anything but quiet.

It's fitting then that the unofficial anthem of the march on Washington by a million people is a song titled "I Can't Keep Quiet," written by Connie Lim. In a November 2017 interview at Fortune Most Powerful Women Next Gen Summit in Laguna Niguel, Calif. that although she wrote it in 2015, it took "a lifetime" to write.

“Growing up as a Chinese-American woman, I was torn between two different approaches of living: as a confident American and as a Chinese woman … I was told when I was younger that the smaller a woman was, the smaller her mouth was, the more attractive she was,” she told the audience in Laguna Niguel, Calif.

RELATED: Songs of protest emerge

Lim explained to her interviewer that the real inspiration for the song was her experience with sexual assault at age 14. She was told that the rape was her fault and was slut-shamed, as a result of which she developed an eating disorder and body dysmorphia. 

Since her a cappella performance of the song at last year's march drew the attention of women around the world. The song is being performed at graduations, concerts and in the streets.

Lim has performed the song on a number of national venues and has signed with Atlantic Records. Her new album is scheduled for release early this year.

The next Women's March and sister marches will be taking place the weekend of Jan. 20-21, exactly one year after Donald Trump was inaugurated. While the main march on Jan. 21 will take place in Las Vegas, sister marches will occur throughout the world that same weekend. Click here to find an event near you.

In a Facebook post, organizers said, "Nevada has recent experience with some of the most pressing issues facing women in our nation today, from gun violence to politicians accused of sexual assault." Adding, Nevada is a swing state that will help shape the Senate in 2018, which makes it the perfect place to commemorate the Women's March.

The march will kick-off national voter registration and help the organization advocate for policies and candidates it believes in. _________________________________________________________________________________